A Look At Buying Individual Health Insurance
Many people have insurance with the company that they work for, but there are a large number of Americans whose only option is buying individual health insurance. Even companies are beginning to pass a large portion of the cost of insurance on to their employees.
According to a recent Kaiser Family Foundation report, the average amount a worker pays for an individual health plan is $779. A family plan costs an average of $3,515. Since these prices are an average, it is obvious that many workers are paying even more.
Before you purchase this type of insurance, it is best to shop around and compare the prices and coverage of several different health insurance companies. There are non-profit sites that ask you approximately five questions about your family and then give you a list of the companies in your state that have plans that will meet your or your family’s health needs. The list normally includes the websites and phone numbers for each company.
In the United States, the average cost of a family program is $13,500 a year. Most smaller companies pay less than half of that cost for their employees. A worker in that situation may be able to save a considerable amount of money each year by purchasing his own health insurance plan.
The cost of health coverage depends on what part of the country the person lives in. For example, a person who lives in or near New York City will most likely not be able to find an individual plan that is less expensive than his company plan. If that same person lives in the state of Ohio, he might be able save several hundred dollars a month on an individual plan.
Before a person considers changing from a company health plan to a private health plan there are several things that his company plan offers that he should consider. An individual plan will not include any of these items.
In a company plan, you and all of your co-workers must be accepted for insurance coverage regardless of any health problems you may have. Your health insurance cannot be canceled if you become sick. If the worker is laid off his job, according to law, he has the option of purchasing an extension on his health insurance from the company for at least eighteen months.
If the person had insurance at a previous job, the new company has to reduce the waiting period for any current health problem according to the time the person worked at his other company. For example, if the waiting period is six month and he worked twelve months at his last job, he would be covered immediately under his new job policy.
If you decide to switch from your company’s health insurance to a private insurance plan, do not cancel your company insurance until you are certain that you have been accepted by the new company. Private insurers are very particular about previous health problems and waiting periods. It is not uncommon for them to refuse to insure an individual for a number of reasons.
As with any type of insurance, comparing different companies and the policies that they offer is the smartest thing to do. Make sure you understand exactly what the policy covers and what it doesn’t cover. By doing these two things, you will be able to make the best decision concerning your family’s health needs.
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